Report: Spotify to backflip on removing abusers from playlists?
Spotify could be doing a backflip on its new “hate content and hateful conduct policy” to remove the music of alleged abusers from its playlists.
A source within Spotify told Bloomberg it is reconsidering what was generally considered to be a worthy but ultimately ill-conceived plan “to reflect its values.”
So far the only two affected have been R. Kelly and 20-year-old Florida rapper XXXTentacion, the latter after being charged with assault on a pregnant woman.
Kelly’s management taunted Spotify as to why music from Kiss, Guns N’Roses, Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson had not been pulled for similar behaviour.
In any case, R. Kelly seems to have the last laugh because his streams have increased since the ban, and more music fans are actively and defiantly searching out what’s making the fuss.
On the day after Spotify’s May 10 announcement, he got 117,000 additional streams.
In the seven days after, he generated 6,676,000 streams, a 100,000% increase over his usual average of 6,584,000 per week.
Last week in a video leaked to Facebook, he sneered that the women’s groups fighting to get him banned on social media, concerts and radio were too late because the music’s already out there.
“I’m handcuffed by my destiny. They should’ve did this shit 30 years ago.”
In XXXTentacion’s case, the woman who accused him of slapping her has since said changed her story.
On the video leaked on social media, the rapper is seen dancing before slapping the girl.
She now says the two of them were just “joking around” and she was not injured as a result of the incident
The rapper has dropped his case, citing defamation and extortion against her.
His single ‘SAD!’ lost 17% of streams within the first week of being pulled off playlists.
Spotify has, according to Bloomberg, told XXXTentacion’s label and management that it will restore his music back to its playlists.
No decision has been made with R. Kelly, who last week had more women come out with allegations about his behaviour, but it is clear that he is not overly-concerned at this stage by Spotify’s playlist ban.
Bloomberg also asserted, “The company’s top executives are talking to the music industry and civil rights activists about how and when to adjust its rules in a manner suitable to both sides.”
The music industry has been divided on the move, concerned at what it considers censorship.
Spotify’s decision has also caused a rift in its executive ranks.
Troy Carter, its head of artist relations, has threatened to quit.
Kendrick Lamar has also threatened to pull his music from the Swedish streaming service.
That would affect Spotify: Lamar’s streaming total exceeds 1 billion and was, in 2017, the fourth most-streamed artist on the platform.
It’s a major decision for Lamar: when one of his albums sold 9.6 million streams in the full flush of its release, the singer is estimated to have made between $921,600 and $1,290,240 in 24 hours.
Vickie Nauman, an industry consultant who has worked with Spotify in the past, told Billboard, “It is virtually impossible to police millions of songs, lyrics, contributors and artists.
“Where and how do you draw the line?
“I support taking a stand and not willingly sponsoring a known violent artist, but it’s quite unclear to me how you can consistently monitor and apply any sort of similar editorial/social/cultural standards across art on any scale.”